Chance woke to find soft sunlight playing across his face. He blinked, yawned and ran a hand through his beard - that was gong to take some getting used to, at least until he had a chance to shave it off.
He felt remarkably well rested, full of energy and ready for the day ahead. He had half expected that he would wake up stiff and sore from sleeping on the ground, but that had not happened. A new appreciation for the tough nature of the new body that he had been given came to him.
Sitting up, he noticed that a few things had changed during the night while he had slept.
The fire had burned out, reduced to grey ashes and black charcoal. Shags had also moved in closer as well, near to where the fire had been. Chance grinned; it appeared as if pride only went so far when there was a nice cosy fire to be had. Not that he was going to mention that to Shags. He still didn’t quite know what to make of a wolf as a companion, if they could turn on him or what. It was better not to risk it and to maintain a civil relationship.
Someone had also left two freshly caught rabbits laying beside him. He looked at them. While cooking fish he could manage, the thought of having to prepare the rabbits made him feel ill. He didn’t know the exact process, only that it would require cutting them open and scooping their innards out. Not to mention having to skin them. Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.
There were still the berries they had picked the previous evening left over, though they would hardly be enough to satisfy him. And while he could have gone with fish again, the prospect of having them three times a day didn’t appeal to him. Some other solution would have to be worked out, and soon.
Chance took out the parchment and decided to have a look at it, specifically the part about the animal companion power. If he was going to have Shags around, then he would need to know more of what it entailed.
Power: Animal Companion
Class: Druid
Required Stats: Mind 1, Soul 1.
Required Affinities: Nature.
Required Power Source: Primal
Such is the druid’s connection to the natural world that they can call a wild animal to be their companion, friend and guardian. Usual they take the form of animals that live close to the druid’s guarded land, such as wolves, ravens or bears, though other animals can be found in more unusual places, such as lions for those who live in the savannahs or apes for those in jungle lands.
The druid shares a bond with their companion, a bond that strengthens as the druid grows more powerful. At first they can simply sense the presence of their companion, but as the bond strengthens they can feel exactly where their companion is at all times, see and hear through their companions senses and even use them as a conduit for spells.
The loss of a companion causes the druid great physical and mental pain.
Right, so don’t let Shags die. That seemed to be a theme that was going around. While it was a bad situation that he found himself in, deep down he had to admit that some of the stuff that he could do, with time at least, as a druid sounded cool. He just had to survive long enough to get access to it.
The wolf cracked open one golden eye and looked over at him. Shags didn’t say anything, but just sat there watching.
Your doing? Chance asked, motioning to the rabbits.
Both eyes opened. Yes.
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Yrip chose that moment to awaken as well. He unrolled, stretched and yawned and then saw Shags and gave a yelp, startled. He half scrambled away from the wolf on all fours, before he remembered what was going on and crept back cautiously towards the burnt out fire.
“Morning, Yrip.”
“It is, yes, yes.” Yrip settled down again but kept a very wary eye on Shags.
Chance picked up the two dead rabbits, half cringing at the contact with them. Dealing with dead animals was not a thing that he enjoyed. He tossed one to Shags and the second to Yrip. “Here.”
Yrip needed no real encouragement. Picking it up, he began to tear at the rabbit's flesh in a display that Chance turned away from so he didn’t have to see it.
You do not wish for it? asked Shags, golden eyed gaze settling upon Chance.
I can not eat it raw and I don’t think I could manage to prepare it to cook either.
Shags lowered his head and took the entire rabbit in his mouth in one go, starting to chew it. Chance winced at the sound of crunching bones, shutting his eyes and wishing he could shut his ears as well.
One would have expected a Forest Walker to know such things. Shags didn't even have to stop chewing to send the thought. Chance almost laughed at the idea of it, for his mother had been a stickler for not talking while chewing at the dinner table. Here it did not seem to matter.
While Yrip and Shags went about devouring their rabbits with too much enthusiasm, Chance got up, taking the bark container with the berries along with him. He started to eat them as he walked, stretching his legs as he made his way back into the cave with its open roof.
The early morning light could not reach inside yet, but there was a golden glow above and the air inside felt cooler. He stood by the small stream of water that came out of the cave, eating his berries as he looked around, taking it in. The previous day he had been far too overwhelmed by it all to properly appreciate the place.
What was it that the parchment had called the place, a druidic focal point? He had no idea what exactly that meant, only that it sounded important. Somehow he had to reclaim and restore it, and live there as well. That would take some doing, establishing shelter and bedding and cooking space and all of that. The parchment said that he had affinity with crafting as a dwarf, which no doubt would be of use, but with no tools and no supplies, it would be no easy task.
Finishing off the berries, he knelt by the water and scooped up some to drink. There was as before the familiar surge of energy that came from up, suffusing his whole body. That the internal voice that seemed to want to alert him to every small detail about everything on this occasion said nothing was a puzzlement. It might have had something to do with the focal point mentioned and wasn’t anything he could discover until later
He stood back up again after drinking. Even after just a few berries and a drink he was feeling satisfied, though perhaps not full. He would have to see if he could scrounge up some more food later, if not to eat right away then for future meals.
Heading back out he found the kobold and the wolf staring at each other across the cold fireplace. They weren’t showing any threatening signs or hostility to each other, just standing unmoving and staring,
“Problems?” Chance asked as he walked on over. Two heads turned to look at him, breaking eye contact with each other.
All well here.
“Shaggy Death caught the rabbits,” Yrip said. “I could taste it.”
“Is there an issue with that?”
“Iyari are not used to getting things from Shaggy Deaths. Taking, yes, not getting.”
“We are going to have to get used to working together if we are to get anywhere, okay?”
“As you say, master. But I keep eye on Shaggy Death just the same.”
The wolf appeared to grin before padding away to the stream to drink.
“I have come to a decision,” Chance announced. “We are going to locate Camp Brokentooth and deal with the goblins there. There is no point putting off starting the quest; waiting will not get us anywhere.”
“Good, smellies must go.”
One camp is as good as the next.
Chance consulted the parchment, focusing on the quests listed, in particular the one regarding the goblins.
Camp Brokentooth Cleared: 0/1.
The words on the parchment dissolved into a map, one that showed the local area, and marking the location of the camp. He turned the parchment around a couple of times, trying to get his bearings before finally deciding upon a direction that seemed the right way to go.
“Well,” he said, “Let's get this over with. What is the worst that can happen?”
You can die, came Shags mindspeech, words tinged with amusement.
“Let’s try and stay alive, okay?” Chance added. Taking a deep breath, he headed off into the unknown.